Can shifting device for can washing machines



De@ i@ i935., J. M. MCCLATQHIE i 2,023,432

CAN SHIFTINQ DEVICE FOR CAN WASHING MACHINES y Original Filed Oct. 7, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheil 1 Hum Dec., l0, 1935. J. M. MCCLATCHIE CAN SHIFTING DEVICE FOR CAN WASHING MACHINES Original Filed Oct. '7, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet` 2 INVENToR J//A/ /V/VfAnW/ n TTORNEYS Dec l0, 1935. .1. M. MccLATcHuE CAN SHIFTING DEVICE FOR CAN WASHING MACHINES original Filed oct. 7, 1933 4 sheets-sheet s INVENTOR /V-ZafA//f @2% A ORNEYS E, 1935'. J. M. MccLATcHnE 2,023,432

CAN SHIFTIG DEVICE FOR CAN WASHING MACHINES Original Filed Oct. 7, 1935 4 Sheets-Shet 4 ,jg l INVENTOR Patented Dec. 10, 1935 UNITED- STATES? PATENT OFFICE 2.023.432. Y CAN SHIFT-ING DEvICE Fon GAN- WASHING MACHINES;

John M... Mcclatchie, New-york, N.' Y., assigner( to..TheBorden.Company New York,.N. Y.) a corporation oi. New. Jersey originaly application october-f7, fissa. seria-1; No.n

Dividedand this application Septem ber 12, 19.34, l Serial No. 743,634.

k,- NO. 692,552.

In my Patent No. 1,914,145; dated June 13-i 1933 there isdisclosed a canwashing machine provided with.y a transporting carriage having an upward, forward, downward and backward movement for successively depositing the cansY in inverted position over a series of nozzles and then uprighting the cans on a platform. .Any oscillatingJ arm travels in a slot in the platform `and when a can has been deposited on the platform, thearm pushes the can across the'platform into positionto receive a cover. With the use of an oscillatingpusher arm, it. isdilcult to adjust .the timingyof the oscillations of the armA with. the placing of the can in upright position on the platform.

One object .of the present invention ,is the provision of` improved means inthe formof a vrotating armfor pushing the cans across, the platform, so as to avoid any possible interference betweenzthe `arm' moving: to` canfpushing position and the can being deposited, on` the platform. e Another object vof; the invention is the provision of a guard plate which-.is moved. across the slot in the platform (thatis to say; across the pathy of. travel of thecan on the platform); just before the can lands on the platform, and which is.v moved out of the path .of the can across thegplatform just before the pusher arm moves from the right, of the parts showngin Fig. 1; Fig.

4 is a section in elevation of thepusherarm driving means; and Fig. 5 is a topplan, partly in section of the-parts showninFig. 4;

The can transporting means; which-isrthe same asin said. patent, comprises a frameindicated at Ine and a, can supporting rail II. The upwards forward, downward'` and backward movement is imparted to the. carriage by twov internal rec,- tangular-gears I2? (only one shown), drivenby a pinion I41xed.on.one,end of .a shaft I5.. onzthe other end, of Whichis mounted a bevel gear I6 meshing with thegear I'I` mounted on shaft- I8 drivenftby. the chain. lgand sprocket wheel 20;

'I'he carriage ID.- advances the cans 23 in inverted positionv along a oansupport 22 con- 5z sistingiofltwo horizontal bars and successively places them `over nozzles 24 by which they are subjectedto a cleansing` and sterilizing treatment in the-usual way.l When a can is placed over ther-last or air nozzle 26one edge of thel mouth 101 ofv the-canrests on a: block 21 and the opposite edge. of' thev mouthfof the can rests on the support 22, sothatf the .can tips toward an-abutment 28,` as shown in-.dottedlines 29,-in Fig. 3 On the nal backward movement of the carriage (with 15 respect to-the can over the nozzle. 26) the forwardfedge 3|of the carriage is in alinement with aboutthe center ofthe can',so that on the next upward movement of the carriage the'can is thrown; forward aga-inst the abutment 28, as gggE shown-att, .andas the carriage continues to rise is somersaultedlor toppled over theabutment into upright ,position on a. platform Silas-shown bythe can v35. If `the can does noty fully go over the, abutment onv the upward stroke ofthe 25 movable guard plate 40 secured` `at one.` of its 35 edgesrto aver-tical shaft..4| mounted to oscillate in bearings42.. At its lower end the shaft4i connects :through a toggle 43. with a rodf4'4. pivotally connected withan. arm VMisecured to a shaft 46 journalled inbearings 4L v Thei shaft 46,'is oscillated by the upward and downward movements of the can transporting carriage. Fixedon the shaft 46 by the hub 49 isyan Yarm- 50. arranged to. slide in a sleeve 5I therhead y5 2 ofv which is arranged to slide longi- 45 tudinally on agrod 54. secured at both ends in a downward extension 55 of the internal. gear I2. To prevent the sleeve from cramping on the rod 54 guards 53f-arel provided. This arrangement is such that while the carriage is movingfor- 50` ward and:Y a can; isffalling intoupright position on theV platform, theplategMlisv held` across the platformi .in thegpositionA shown by dotted` lines 51 in Figli. I As the carriage begins to descend,

the. oscillationof` theshaft 46 by thesleeve 5I 55';

causes the plate 40 to be swung into the position shown in full lines, in which position it remains while the carriage travels rearwardly or toward the right in Fig. 1. On the next upward stroke 5 of the carriage, the plate 48 is again swung across the platform.

A further means of assuring the proper uprighting of the cans on the discharge platform is a pusher arm 59 rising from a transverse shaft 60 and normally located between the arms of the U-shaped abutment 28, as shown in Fig. 1. On the outside end of the shaft is fixed an arm 62 leaning toward the carriage, on which at this point is fixed a stud 63, so that on the forward stroke of the carriage the engagement of the stud 63 with the arm 62 causes. the shaft 6D to be oscillated and the pusher arm 59 to be brought against the can descending onto the platform and so assist in settling it in upright position. On the return stroke vof the carriage, the arms 59 and 62 fall by gravity into normal position.

YOn the rdown stroke of the carriage the can which has just been deposited on the platform is pushed across the platform into position to receive a cover 65 from a cover runway 66. The means for pushing the can across the platform comprises a rotating arm 68 having an enlarged can-engaging end 69. The arm 68 is mounted on a shaft 10 on which is fixed a sprocket wheel 1| connected by the chain 12 with the Ysprocket wheel 13 mounted on the shaft 14. On the inner end of the shaft 14 is mounted a pinion 16 which meshes with a pinion 11 mounted on the shaft 18 extending at right angles to the shaft 14. On

the inner end of the shaft 18 is xed a bifurcated arm 80 loosely embracing a pin 8| fixed in the extension 55 of the gear I2. By means of this arrangement the arm 68 is given a rotary movement.

Since the can transporting carriage and the gear .I2 have a rectangular path of travel-upward, forward, downward and backward-the pin 8| mounted on the lower part of the gear I2 will occupy different positions in the slot in the arm 80, that is, positions at varying distances from the shaft 18, according to the position of the gear I2 in its path of travel. The pin 8| is constantly moving, and so the shaft 18 is constantly turning and with it the arm 68. But the speed of rotation of the shaft 18 and of the arm 68 varies according tothe position of the pin 8| in the slotted arm 80. This variation in the speed of travel of the arm 68 is availed of to push the can across the platform 33 in such manner as to avoid toppling the can over.

When the carriage has completed its forward movement, after having somersaulted the can over the abutment 28, the pin 8| is near the end of the slot in the arm 88 and so the arm 68 is moving relatively slowly, and while it is in this movement it is brought into contact with the can which has just been uprighted on the platform. This occurs as the pinion I4 rounds the upper left hand corner of the gear I2, viewing Fig. 3, when the pin 8| is farthest from the shaft 18. In this connection it will be understood that the arm 68 can be adjusted on the shaft 10, with respect to the positions of the pin 8| and arm 88. The slow movement of the arm 68 continues as the carriage 70 begins to descend with the result that the can is gently started across the platform. As the'carriage descends the pin 8| approaches nearer to the shaft 18, and so the speed of the arm 68 accelerates, until the pin is opposite the middle '1 of the gear I2. The can isnow about half way across the platform. After the pinion I4 passes the middle portion of the left hand upright portion of the gear I2, the movement of the shaft 18 and of the arm 68 decreases in speed until the pinion I4 reaches the lower left hand corner of the gear I 2 at which point the arm 68 has pushed the can clear across the platform and is descending through the slot 83. It will thus be seen that in its movement across the platform 33 the can is first gently engaged by the arm 68 and moved l0 slowly, but with accelerating speed until it is about half way across the platform, and then that the speed of travel of the arm 68 and can gradually diminishes until the can reaches its final position under the cap runway 66. l5

The platform 33 is provided with a slot 83 to accommodate the arm 68 as it pushes the can across the platform. At one end of the slot 83 is an enlargement 84, and at the other end an enlargement 85 to accommodate the head 69 of the 20 arm 68. The enlargement 84 is to one side of the spot where the uprighted can lands on the platform (which is opposite the ends of the can support 22), so that when during the rotation of the arm 68 the head rises through the enlargement 25 84 it will be in position to engage one side of the can which has just been uprighted, and is indicated at 81 in Fig. 1. As the arm 68 completes the upper arc of its rotation it pushes the can into cover-receiving position indicated by the 30 broken lines 88. This position of the can is determined by the rails 9| and 92. The cover 65 is caused to descend into the can in the manner described in said patent.

When its cover has been received by the can, 35 the latter is pushed onto the rolls 94, and so out of the machine, by means of an arm attached to a forward extension 96 of the can carriage. The platform 33 is slotted at 91 to accommodate the arm 95. 40

The parts illustrated in the drawings but not described herein are essential elements of the complete can washing machine disclosed in said patent, but do not directly cooperate with the novel can shifting devices herein claimed. 45

I claim as my invention:-

1. In-a machine of the character described including a can transporting carriage having an upward, forward, downward and backward movement, a platform, and means for uprighting a 50 can onto the platform, a rotatable arm for moving the can across the platform and means for rotating the arm comprising a shaft on which the arm is mounted, and connections between the shaft and the carriage for giving the shaft a 55 varying speed of rotation according to the direction of travel of the carriage, said arm being arranged with respect to its driving means to be brought into 'contact with the can at substantially its slowest rate of movement. 60

2. In a machine of the character described including a can transporting carriage having an upward, forward, downward and backward movement, a platform, and means for uprighting a can onto the platform, a rotatable arm for mov- 65 ing the can across the platform, and means for rotating the arm with varying speed comprising a shaft on which the arm is mounted, a second shaft, driving connections between the rst and the second shafts, a slotted arm mounted on the 70 second shaft, and a pin connected with the carriage and received in the slot of the slotted arm whereby the can-pushing arm is given a varying speed of rotation according to the direction of travel of the carriage, said can-pushing arm be- 75 ing arrangedv to contact with the can as the pin begins its downward travel.

3. In a machine of the character described includng a can transporting carriage having an upward, forward, downward and backward movement, a slotted platform, and means for uprighting a can onto the platform over the slot, a rotatable arm adapted to travel in the slot for moving the can across the platform, and means for ro- 10 tating the arm comprising a shaft on which the arm is mounted, a second shaft, driving connections between the rst and second shafts, a slotted arm mounted on the second shaft, and a pin connected with the lower end of the carriage and received in the slot of the slotted arm whereby as the carriage travels in its rectangular path the pin 'travels in the slot and thereby rotates the second shaft so as to give the can-pushing arm a varying speed of rotation.

JOHN M. McCLATCI-IIE. 

